2.2.17

At the end – or rather the beginning – of Rue de
Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (see previous post), you may find the church which gave
the name to the street. The church was built during the years 1823-36 in some
kind of neoclassical style.

On the frontispiece we can read “Beatae Mariae Virgini
Lavretanae”. “Lavretanae” refers to Loreto in Italy. There is an enormous shrine
to be found in the Loreto “Basilica della Santa Casa”, supposed to contain a
house – flown there by angelic beings - where Mary once lived and where she was
visited by the Holy Spirit – with the consequences we know. A congregation
named the “Sisters of Loreto” was created in 1609. Mother Teresa was a long-time
member of that congregation. Maybe we should also refer to what for the Catholics
is a famous litany, the “Litaniae lauretanae”, the “Litany of Loreto”. Mozart
and others made music to it.

Coming back to the Paris church, we can also read,
above the entrance doors, something which may sound more surprising on a
religious building: “Liberté Egalité Fraternité”, words emanating from the
French Revolution and later becoming the motto of the French Republic. It may
not be surprising that very few churches have this inscription and this one
doesn’t seem to have been repainted since it was put here in 1902. (I talked about a similar inscription on the
Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Belleville church in this post.)

What we see on the top picture are “Six Angels in
adoration before the Madonna and Child” (by C-F Leboeuf, 1792-1865). They would
all need a good cleaning.

The inside of the church is especially known for having
almost all walls painted, probably the most colourful of all Paris churches.

Maybe we could listen to a little part of Mozart’s
version of the “Litaniae lauretanae”.

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My previous blog, PHO, was in operation for a year as from March 2007. It contains similar posts as this one, basically talking about different well known or more secrete sites in Paris. You can reach it by clicking HERE.